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Scanspeak 10" driver replacement - blown woofer

Hi, I have to replace 2 10" drivers on a pair of Vandersteen 3a's. The drivers are 25w aluminum cone, and the voice coils are fried. Vandersteen will rebuild for 289 each.

Question: Is there a comparable replacement on the market that would be cheaper then the rebuild, and close in performance? I found a company, Madisound speaker components, which sells many 10" drivers from 37.00 - 355.00

I have hooked the speakers back up and have found the bass to be insane with the big 10" hole in the back, apparently in the design the 10" drivers act as acoustic couplers, part passive radiator and part driver. I placed a large book over the holes and the bass is instantly tighter, but not as deep as they used to be.

How important is the quality of these acoustic couplers?
Would a SEAS presitige aluminum woofer be as good at 165.00?
Would I hear the difference?

I know it's impossible for you guys to answer all these questions, I am just trying to paint a picture of where my head is at. Have any of you had to replace your woofers with aftermarket products? What brand did you choose? and how did it work out?

Thanks again,
Mike
hanaleimike

Showing 6 responses by rodman99999

rodman99999
6,206 posts
 
Any aftermarker speaker reconer(unless an authorized warranty station) will be using Waldom parts with which to affect the repair. Your speakers will never sound the same(or even close) if this course is taken. Unless you replace the driver(it's not simply a passive radiator) with an OEM piece; the design cannot function as intended. It's Thiel/Small parameters play a major part in it's functioning properly, and MUST be matched exactly for optimum performance in the Vandy's alignment. Then again; since you've toasted the voicecoils, it may be that the system wasn't providing enough bottom to satisfy you(have you boosted/EQ'ed your bass somehow?), and a more efficient/sturdier driver would serve you better there.
rodman99999
6,206 posts
 
In other words, he changed the Thiele/Small parameters of the driver completely, which thereby negated the designer's alignment and response goals. Exactly what I said would happen if OEM(ie: Vandersteen) parts were not used in the repair. That does not make everyone happy, especially if the owner enjoyed the way the speaker was designed to perform initially.
rodman99999
6,206 posts
 
Mike- Are you certain the voice coils are burned? Is there any sound from them with signal applied? If so- It's possible, with a sudden high input transient(ie: If a tonearm were dropped), for the voice coil to exceed it's linear range, bottom on the magnet plate and/or strike the magnet's top plate and pole piece. Either will bend/deform the voice coil's former and cause a nasty scratching/rattling sound during play. I've repaired a number of drivers that had that misfortune over the years(NOT my own), without having to replace the voice coil(aluminum is easy, Nomex/polymide/Kapton are much trickier, but doable). That insured no change was made in the unit's T/S parameters, or it's sound. I've no doubt Bill at Millersound could do that repair as well, if he's willing to take the time.
rodman99999
6,206 posts
 
In prior communications; I've recommended to Mike that he contact Bill regarding his speakers. I've purchased cones and surrounds from Bill in the past, but I'm not intimately familiar with his work. Our conversations HAVE always shown him to be knowledgeable. You stated that he changed the sensitivity and excursion of the drivers mentioned. If the changes were audible: That would not only change the Fs, Qes and Qms(which will change all the other system Q's yielded in the T/S formulas and the Vas), but would also cause a rise and overlap in the frequency response at the designer's crossover point. Like I said, changing the designer's original performance goals is not everyone's desire. Most of the higher end speaker builders(especially those that have their drivers custom made), hold the manufacturers to more stringent tolerances than you obviously think. Otherwise there could be no unit to unit consistancy in reproduction.
rodman99999
6,206 posts
 
Thank you for your confirmation.
rodman99999
6,206 posts
 
The companies I'm referring to test every driver for consistancy/tolerances, plus match the drivers for use as pairs. BTW: What you just posted as Bud's actions concerning the source and quality of his drivers confirms what I said of, "most higher end speaker manufacturers"(ie: "He couldn't just let it go") KUDOS to Fried!!
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